Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN!
Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2018.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:1) The Super Bowl is on Sunday, 2 February 2014 in the USA. The Denver Broncos are playing the Seattle Seahawks for the National football League championship. The winners get to go to Disney World. 2) Predict the score for this game. You have to predict the winning team and the closest to the actual score (point differential summed for both teams) to be the winner. The winner of this contest gets announced next week in a Genea-Musings blog post. 3) Tell a story about your experiences playing football or watching professional football games. Did you go to football games? Who in your family was the real fan of the game? What were the pre-game routines? How do you, or your family, react to good plays or bad plays, or wins or losses?4) Provide your entry in a comment to this blog post, in a blog post of your own, or in a Facebook or Google+ post. Be sure to tell me about your post in a comment to this post.Here's mine:My score prediction: Seahawks 24, Broncos 23I actually worked for the San Diego Chargers in the summer of 1963. Read My first real job for more details. I've been a pro football fan since the late 1950s, growing up in San Diego before the Chargers came to town in 1961. My father played football in high school, and my uncle Edward Seaver was a lineman for the Columbia University that went to the Rose Bowl in 1934 and beat Stanford, 7-0. When the Chargers came to town, watching the NFL game became a regular event on Sunday afternoons. There was only one game a week. I went to several Charger home games each season at Balboa Stadium near downtown San Diego. In 1963, when I worked for the team, I started taking my 8 year old brother Scott to the games. We went to the championship game also, my Chargers beat the Patriots 51-10 for the AFL championship. After I was working in engineering for awhile, I spent quite a bit of time at the local bowling alley, and some of the guys in the bar got tickets to the Chargers games at the new San Diego Stadium in Mission Valley. So I went, and Linda and I eventually got season tickets for several years before our children were born. We always sat in the first row of the upper deck at about the 30 yard line on the south side of the field. Now I watch the Chargers games every week that they are on (we had two blackouts this year) and sometimes watch the other Sunday afternoon game, and some of the Sunday night and Monday night games. If the Chargers have the 10 AM game, I skip church. I used to get upset during the games by a bad play or bad luck, but I've become more stoical in recent years (stuff happens!). I still talk to myself about some plays, and I still suggest plays that should work to the TV, but nobody listens. I don't dress up in a team jersey or shirt because they haven't worked in the past. I do have a bucket of popcorn at halftime of Charger home games. After 53 years of Chargers football, with one league championship (1963) and one Super Bowl year (1995 Super Bowl XXIX, lost 49-26 to the 49ers and it wasn't that close!), I yearn for another championship team. I hope it comes soon - I don't have that many good years left!The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-super-bowl.htmlCopyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

I am in the 7th great-grandmothers and I'm up to Ancestor #765, but I don't have a name for that ancestor, or for female ancestors up to #855. I have completed the Seaver side of the 7th great-grandmothers, and will now start on the Carringer side. Unfortunately, there are only a few lines back that far (9 generations before me) in my database on the Carringer side, mainly due to lack of records. The next female in my Ancestor Name List with at least a given name is #857 Elsje Scism (1698-1750). [Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 7th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].My ancestral line back through just one generation in this SCISMfamily line is:1. Randall J. Seaver (1943-living)

I have done very little research in records on these families. I know that there are a few online family trees for this Bresee/Scism couple, but none show Elsje's parents. Often the surnames are variations like Bresee/Bressie/Brazie or Scism/Sissum/Sissom, etc. Both families are of Dutch origin, and they lived in the 1700s in the Dutch settled area in Columbia and Rensselaer counties in New York.

Friday, January 31, 2014

I'm going to spend next Wednesday (5 February) at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City just before attending the RootsTech 2014 Conference. This will be the sixth year in a row that I've been able to have at least one day at the very best genealogy reference library in the world.

When I go to the FamilySearch Library, I always try to find books, periodicals and microfilms that are not available in any other repository (except for a local courthouse or library). I'm at the point in my research where I am usually searching for land, probate, church, tax and other record types from colonial or 19th century time frames. So the FamilySearch Library is ideal for me because it has microfilm for many of those record types.

I have put records to research on a To-Do list for many of the ancestors in my family tree, at least the ones since 1700. Then I've gone into the FamilySearch Library Catalog to determine what resources are available at the FamilySearch Library. I now have about 100 items on the list to be found (which doesn't include the completed items).

Since this is a process that almost every researcher gets around to doing eventually, usually after hitting a "brick wall" in online resources, I thought it might be worthwhile to show how I find the potential records in the FamilySearch Library Catalog.

Here is how I found information for one record set - land records in Mercer County, Pennsylvania:

4) The film number information enabled me to add an item to my To-Do list for Henry Carringer (1800-1879), who resided in Mercer County until about 1857. I created a To-Do list item in RootsMagic for Mercer County PA Deeds (1803-1886) and entered the information into the To-Do item fields. I included the microfilm number information. After looking at the Grantee and Grantor Indexes, I will add the deed volume and page information for Henry Carringer to the item and look for the actual deeds when I have the opportunity to do so.

Here is the Mercer County land record item on the To-do List (for the FamilySearch Library) at the top of the list below:

Over the past two years, I've added items to this To-Do list, and have been able to complete quite a few of them. Other items could not be found last year or the year before, so I've noted that on their list entries. I will have to search for those in the localities and not at the FamilySearch Library.

By preparing my search for items on the To-Do List from the FamilySearch Library, as shown above, I am husbanding my available time to do actual searching in the records, and not having to identify microfilms before I can find them. When I find the actual records that I want to capture in an image, I take the microfilm to the microfilm scanner and save the images to my flash drive.

So this aspect of my Salt Lake City is ready to go. I have printed out the To-Do List for the FSL, and have also saved a digital copy of it in a file folder on my flash drive and my laptop. I use the printed-out list to make notes so that I don't duplicate effort and can enter information into my To-Do list, and my Research Log, later. I also have the To-Do List and Research Log in notes in Evernote on my smart phone and tablet so I don't have to drag my laptop to the FamilySearch Library.

I hope that this helps my readers understand how to use the FamilySearch Library Catalog, and provide an example of how I try to be organized for a research trip.

"Not every CEO, even those from genealogy companies, can use their own personal genealogy expertise and time to help others pro-bono as Gilad did for this article by Doreen. It's great praise of MyHeritage's technologies which were built by genealogists for genealogists and were used to discover the rightful heirs of these stolen art works. Gilad's fluent French definitely helped here too!"

2) Bloomberg TV had a three minute video about two weeks ago about the development of MyHeritage website and technology in which they interviewed Gilad Japhet - watch it here or in the video below:

The MyHeritage blog described this video by:"Gilad explained how MyHeritage was founded in his home and grew to become an international company with 75 million users worldwide and how we're continually launching new technologies that make family history easier and accessible for everyone. He also discussed how proud we are as a company to be able to help families reunite."

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog. Here is my ancestor biography for week #5:Thomas Richmond (1848-1917) is #10 on my Ancestor Name List, and is my great-grandfather. He married #11, Julie E. White (1848-1913). I am descended through:* their daughter, #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) married #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)* their son, #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) married Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)* me, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)To create this post, I made an Individual Summary report in RootsMagic 6, then saved it into an RTF file. I then copied and pasted the Person, the Individual Fact List, the Marriages/Children, the General Notes, and the Source Citations into this blog post. Unfortunately, the source citations superscripts did not survive this process as superscripts, so I put them in brackets in the Individual Facts list below, and without brackets in the Source Citation list. I have images of many of these records, but have not included them in this blog post due to the length of the post. Many of them have been transcribed or shown in Amanuensis Monday and Treasure Chest Thursday posts.

Thomas Richmond was born on 16 June 1848 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, the first child of James and Hannah (Rich) Richman. The James Richman family changed their surname to Richmond after they migrated to the United States in 1855/6 [8].

In the 1851 Census for Wiltshire, the James Richman family resided in Hilperton, Wiltshire, England. The household included[9]:

* James Richman -- husband, age 29, coal merchant laborer, born Marsh

* Hannah Richman -- wife, age 25, woolen weaver, born Marsh

* Thomas Richman -- son, age 2, born Marsh

* James Richman -- son, age 1, born Marsh

The passenger list of the British Ship Osprey that departed Bristol and arrived in New York City on 14 November 1856 includes Hannah Richman and five children [10]:

* Hannah Richman - age 32, female, a wife

* James Richman - age 7, male, a child

* Thomas Richman - age 6, male, a child

* Louisa Richman - age 4, female, a child

* Elizabeth Richman - age 3, female, a child

* Ann Richman - an infant, female, a child

In the 1860 US census, the James Richmond family resided in Burrillville, Providence County, Rhode Island. The household included [7]:

* Emily Richmond -- white, female, age 1, daughter, single, born CT, born CT, father born England, mother born CT

The births of Charles Percy Richmond (25 May 1880), Alma Bessie Richmond (16 February 1882), Thomas Edwin Richmond (7 December 1883) and James Henry Richmond (16 November 1885) are in the Killingly town records.

Thomas Richmond of Killingly CT became a citizen of the United States on 10 September 1890 at a Superior Court held in Putnam, Windham County before the Hon. S.A. Robinson, Judge[11]. He stated that he came to the United States as a minor under age 18, that it was then and ever since has been his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and he renounced forever all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign Prince, Potentate, State or sovereignty whatever. He also stated that he had resided in the United States for at least five years, and at least one year in the State of Connecticut, and that during this period he has behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same. He declared under oath that he would support the Constitution of the United States and that he absolutely and entirely renounced and abjured all allegiance and fidelity to any Foreign Prince, Potentate, State or Sovereignty whatever, and particularly to Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, of whom he was before a subject.

While the family resided in Killingly, Thomas Richmond was the choir director at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Putnam. There is a memorial plaque in the church for his excellent work there.

In the 1900 US census, the Thomas Richmond family resided at 42 Summer Street in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. The family included [3]:

* Thomas Richmond -- head, white, male, born Jun 1848, age 51, married, for 31 years, born England, parents born England, immigrated in 1856, a resident of the US for 44 years, a naturalized citizen, an overseer of a woolen mill, rents a house

* Juliette Richmond -- wife, white, female, born Sep 1848, age 51, married, for 31 years, 9 children born, 1 living (obviously an error), born CT, parents born RI

* James H. Richmond -- son, white, male, born Nov 1886, age 13, born CT, father born England, mother born CT, at school

In the 1910 US census, the family resided in Killingly, Windham County, Connecticut. The family included [2]:

* Thomas Richmond -- head of household, male, white, age 61, first marriage, married 41 years, born England, parents born England, immigrated in 1856, naturalized, a carder, in a woolen mill, out of work for 26 weeks

* Juliette Richmond -- wife, female, white, age 62, first marriage, married 41 years, born CT, parents born RI

Thomas Richmond died 9 November 1917 in Clinton, Massachusetts, at the home of his daughter, Annie (Richmond) Pickford. His obituary (dated November 17, 1917, unknown newspaper, obtained from family papers) reads [13]:

"Thomas Richmond, one of the best known woolen carders in New England, died in Clinton, Mass., on Friday, November 9, at the home of his son-in-law, Walter Pickford, the well-known secretary of the National Association of Woolen and Worsted Overseers. Mr. Richmond was born in England in 1848 and came to this country with his parents at the age of eight. He began his mill career in some Connecticut mill and by the time he had reached his majority he had already become an overseer, holding his first position with the Westerly (R.I.) Woolen Co., long since out of business. During a long and busy life the recognized ability of Mr. Richmond obtained for him some of the best positions in the country. Besides being overseer of carding in Westerly, R.I., Mr. Richmond was in the early days of his mill career employed with old time mills in Salisbury and Elmville, Conn.

"He had been ill since last April from pernicious anaemia, and last August went to live with his son-in-law, Walter Pickford. Although the best medical service was employed, it was without avail. Mr. Richmond was well and favorably known in the textile industry. His passing away will be a distinct shock and loss to the overseers of New England, among whom he passed his busy and practical life. He was of a very affable disposition and his spirit of good will maintained even during his last days illness buoyed him up to the last.

"He leaves one son and four daughters, one of whom is the wife of Walter Pickford, head of the Alliance Chemical Company in Boston. Mr. Richmond had been a member of the National Association of Woolen and Worsted Overseers for many years. Funeral services were held at St. Phillip's Episcopal Church, Putnam, Conn., and interment was in Grove Cemetery, same city. He held his last position with the Putnam (Conn.) Woolen Co."

Thomas Richmond died intestate in Clinton, Worcester County, Massachusetts. His probate records are in Worcester County Probate Records, Enclosure 65,803B [14]. Administration of the estate was filed on 18 April 1918 and was granted to son Edwin T. Richmond on 7 May 1918 by the Court. Edwin T. Richmond, George S. Boynton and James C. Smith, all of Leominster, were bondsmen, with a bond of $700 posted on 16 April 1918. The heirs-at-law were listed as:

* Annie F. Pickford, Clinton, Mass., daughter

* Emilie W. Taylor, San Diego, Cal., daughter

* Grace L. Shaw, Fitchburg, Mass., daughter

* Bessie A. Seaver, Leominster, Mass., daughter

* Edwin T. Richmond, Leominster, Mass., son.

An inventory of the estate of Thomas Richmond was appraised on 18 June 1918. There was no real estate listed. The personal property included:

Thursday, January 30, 2014

I decided to write them down so that all of my readers could benefit from them, and I'll use it in my society newsletter also. I'm not going to include general search engines like Google and Bing, online family tree websites without records, or data portals like CyndisList.

This has to be number one because there is so much available. From the 1,711 record collections (as of today, which include indexed and browsed collections for many states and countries around the world), the FamilySearch Books collection, the FamilySearch Library Catalog (which provides information on available books and microform at the FamilySearch Library), plus the FamilySearch Family Tree (online interconnected tree), and the Research Wiki (not records per se).

This cemetery site has over 111 million memorials for deceased persons all over the world, but mainly in the USA. Volunteers have added many gravestone photographs, and often add inscriptions, birth and death information, notes and obituaries.

Rootsweb has a few online databases (California, Kentucky, Maine and Texas death records; United Kingdom Civil Registration births, marriages and deaths; some user provided databases and reports, etc.), plus the WorldConnect family trees (over 700 million names, in separate trees). There are also very useful mailing lists and message boards that can be searched for queries of other researchers.

There are web pages for every state, and every county in every state. Each page was created and is maintained by volunteers. Many text databases have been added over time for vital, cemetery, and other record types, and sometimes transcribed books are available. The searchable databases are on the USGWArchives (http://www.usgwarchives.net/).

The Internet Archive has millions of digitized books in several formats that can be searched for names and locations. The U.S. Census images are also available but are not searchable - you have to browse them in the microfilm area. There are other microfilm collections that may have browsable records.

Researchers have to use these databases through a subscribing library. The site has U.S. census records with name indexes for many years. There are over 28,000 digitized books, Revolutionary Way Pension Files (selected pages), Freedman's bank, U.s. Serial Sets, and the PERSI periodical index.

Mocavo offers a free search for all of their records. There are over 100,000 databases, but most of them are relatively small at this time. The user can view a record for free, but it is difficult to work with because you can do only one search at a time.

This project is digitizing and indexing the published Massachusetts town early vital record books up until 1850.

There are many other websites with FREE online resources, including most of the subscription sites. They often have some free databases or collections. You can use the Randy's Genealogy Links page at the top of this blog to find more free and subscription websites listed by record type.

January 29, 2014; Utica, OH: 2013 has been a whirlwind of excitement for The In-Depth Genealogist. We collaborated with Conference Keeper on #genchat, and it was a great success. We have listened to the participants that were requesting we host more #genchats. You asked, we are answering. In 2014 we will be starting #idgchat which will take place on the first and thirdFridayof the month at8 pm EST/ 7 CST.

How can you participate?

We recommend using Tchat to follow the chat. It creates a nice conversational stream of tweets that are specific to #idgchat. This way, you can enjoy the conversation and it will not get lost in your Twitter feed. To participate, go to http://www.tchat.io/rooms/idgchat and sign in with your Twitter account. Using Tchat, you will be able to follow the #IDGChat conversation without interference. Look for us at 8 PM EST on the following dates.

The brick wall chats are a collaborative discussion. That will take a few steps to work properly. Submit your brick wall via blog post or email to editor@theindepthgenealogist.com by the first friday of the month. Please add “Brick wall for idgchat” in the subject line. We will compile these into a blog post on the IDG blog and posted the second Monday of the month. Brick wall discussions will take place on the third Friday on the month, unless otherwise noted (see July schedule). To get caught up on the ideas generated you can check out our calendar for 2014 #IDGChat can be found at this link:http://theindepthgenealogist.com/2014-idgchat-schedule/

Remember to follow @Indepthgen, @JenniferAlford and @Tracingmyfamily on Twitter so that you will see all the updates on #IDGChat throughout the year. We look forward to chatting with all of you in 2014!

When I initially downloaded this image of my grandfather's draft registration card, it looked to be in pretty poor shape when it was imaged on the FamilySearch microfilm. The registration card image currently on Ancestry.com looks a bit cleaner than this one, although it is still pretty fuzzy compared to others. I had to find a "cleaner" card on Ancestry just to get the right titles for the entries.

I consider this to be an Original Source document, since the first time it was created is on 12 September 1918 at the Draft Board office. Some Information is Primary (name, address, employment, spouse's name and address, etc.) and some is Secondary (birth date, race, citizenship). All of this is Direct Evidence.

I have used this document to provide evidence of his name, birth date, race, citizenship, residence, employment, spouse's name, and physical description in my database.

This is the only document that I have with my grandfather's signature.

These World War I Draft Registration cards are excellent resources for birth dates of persons in places where birth records were not kept in the late 19th century, or are not accessible due to state laws.

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About Me

I am a native San Diegan, a graduate of San Diego State University, a retired aerospace engineer, a genealogist and a family guy.
My wife (Angel Linda) and I have two lovely daughters, and five darling grandchildren. We love to visit them and have them visit us.
Angel Linda and I love to travel to visit friends and relatives, to sightsee, to cruise or to do genealogy. Our travels have taken us all over the USA, to England, Down Under and Scandinavia.
For earlier posts (not visible on the main post list), please see the Archives listed below by month.
If you like my blog, please put it in your Favorites or Bookmarks and visit regularly.
Contact me via email at randy.seaver@gmail.com